‘Defining Courage’ World War II Nisei show to make Maui debut at Baldwin High

“Defining Courage,” an immersive live show honoring Hawai‘i’s Nisei soldiers of World War II, comes to Maui for the first time with a performance at Baldwin High School on Monday, Nov. 10, 2025, at 6 p.m. Tickets are $20 and available at DefiningCourageShow.com.

Blending live storytelling, historic and newly filmed footage, eyewitness interviews and an all-original musical score, “Defining Courage” tells the story of the 100th Infantry Battalion, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the Military Intelligence Service and the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion—segregated Japanese American units considered among the greatest fighting forces in US military history. Many of these soldiers were born and raised in Hawai‘i.

“At a time when Japanese Americans were being incarcerated on the continent, and even here in Hawai‘i solely because of the color of their skin, these brave young men registered to serve to prove their loyalty to the United States,” said Jennifer Sabas, director of the Daniel K. Inouye Institute and board member of the Japanese American National Museum. “The courage and sacrifice of this greatest generation is deeply relevant today as we face new challenges throughout our country.”

Narrated by Emmy Award–winning ABC7 Los Angeles News Anchor and filmmaker David Ono, with music by Enzo De Roza and Sheridan Seyfried, the Hawai‘i performances will feature Grammy Award–winning Daniel Ho, acclaimed songwriter Harold Payne and the RAISE Choir.

In addition to the show on Maui, two Oʻahu shows will take place at McKinley High School Auditorium, alma mater of many Nisei soldiers, and notably, the late senator Daniel K. Inouye. McKinley’s campus still bears bullet holes from the attack on that fateful December day in 1941.

“To perform this show in the very hallways and auditorium that shaped so many of these heroes—and to do so with their names watching over us—will be unlike anything we’ve done before,” Ono said.

Defining Courage is presented by Story Boldly, the Japanese American National Museum and Outside In Theatre, with support from The Henri and Tomoye Takahashi Charitable Foundation. Funded, in part, by a grant from the Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Japanese American Confinement Sites Grant.

Local partners for the Hawaiʻi performances are Pacific Historic Parks, Daniel K. Inouye Institute, Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii, and National Parks Service. The shows are sponsored by Kaimana Hila, Hawaiian Electric Industries Foundation, Island Insurance Foundation, First Hawaiian Bank, Servco, ABC Stores and Zippy’s. The Wailuku performance is supported in part by the County of Maui.